We’re on a Road to Winterfell!

Welcome back card gamers! This week I’ll be rounding up the newest release for AGoT v2!

“You, read this!”

This is the second chapter pack in the Westeros Cycle and I’ve been looking forward to it immensely. Hopefully things will get a shake up and one of the ‘almost there’ factions might get a leg up. Lets not beat about the bush though; there are cards to discuss.

I’ll do the run down by faction, starting with Nights Watch. Commonly regarded as somewhere between bad and meh these guys need some serious work and there first card Brandon’s Gift doesn’t deliver at all. It’s pretty bad, I can’t even think of a way to make it sound half good. Unsworn Apprentice is better but isn’t going to set the world alight on his own so is probably more useful in allied parties.

Moving on to House Stark next we get a somewhat useful location with Winterfell Castle. Stark seems like it wants to utilise a mono/unique angle anyway so this may be an asset but it’s probably only a one of to keep up initial pressure. They get the equally uninspiring Winterfell Kennel Master which is OK in a direwolf themed deck for the combat trick but it is fairly transparent as a strategy so I’m not sold on it.

Greyjoy grabbed a fairly sizeable boost in the last chapter pack and that seems to continue with Raiding Longship. Unopposed challenges get even easier to attain now, making Asha and Theon come into their own as more than just supporting players in the Balon beat-down. They also get the superb card draw plus decent body The Reader. These two cards added to Greyjoy’s impressive arsenal are really very good indeed.

House Lannister get an interesting card in Brothel Madame; it’s only one gold, but what are you paying for? More importantly what are you letting them do back? She’s very good. They also get a really tasty plot card in Wardens of the West, furthering the intrigue angle that you want to push anyway with a crushing three card discard turn. Possibly more and all for free if Tyrion is out to play!

The Knight of the Flowers gets a leg up and the ability to win games from nowhere thanks to Lady Sansa’s Rose but given that there aren’t that many targets for it really (9 cards, max) at the moment I don’t rate it above other very good Tyrell events, it might make a Knight rush deck viable? They also get Lady in Waiting which is thoroughly unexciting.

Doran’s southern Kingdom get In Doran’s Name which is quite good, adding to the ‘late-game’ of the Martell but I’m not sure if they really need it. It’s free gold though so I think I’d run a couple. Nymeria Sand is a must include though. Her ability is great defensively early on but is crushing in the late game where it can wreck a defensive strategy. I really like her and will be going back to Martell in the near future because she’s that good.

Our trip around Westeros ends with Baratheon. Already very strong they get another stall card with In The Name Of Your King! Seriously could they be more boring? Now they don’t even have to kneel their own guys to stop them dying! They also get Royal Entourage who are quite dull really but good efficiency so I can see them replacing some of the other cannon fodder in the deck.

Crossing the Narrow Sea we find a Crown of Gold which is the best single card removal in the game in my opinion. It kills 97 characters out of the 117 printed so far and weakens the others to the point where they’re basically useless for the foreseeable future. If only it didn’t have a deck limit! I’m going to play it anyway but really? There other offering is Rakharo who’s a bit rubbish at the moment and very expensive.

There are a few neutrals to mention, Political Disaster is a little bit dodgy I think because it won’t really stop any Bara stall or Greyjoy Ship based decks but it does mess up you just as much. Shadowblack Lane is very strong in Martell and Lannister decks and Syrio Forel is pretty nifty, particularly in low stealth builds plus Trading with the Pentoshi is pretty good if you just want to crap out you hand on turn one and go for the face…

So that’s the round up completed and it’s a good one. Lots of interesting cards and potential combos abound but who’re the big winners this month? I’d say Martell and Greyjoy get a massive boost which is good whilst the big non-movers are probably Stark and the Nights Watch. Weirdly Baratheon seem to have gotten even better as well…